Under the Weather: An underachieving snowstorm

Dec. 27, 2012

Most of the snow from Wednesday's storm fell just south of a line from Richmond, Ind., to Mansfield. Snowfall totals dropped off quickly from Mansfield north. / National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Cen

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Wednesday's snowfall may have an underperformer compared to forecast accumulations, but large systems like that are always very dynamic.

The satellite image above indicates precisely where the highest snowfall totals were. Shelby, for instance, didn't get much, while Mount Vernon was buried. Mansfield's Lahm Airport recorded 3.6 inches. At my location near the Richland/Knox County line, I measured twice that.

While it remains to be seen whether we will see an extended bout of wintry weather, unlike last year's mild winter, we certainly should for the forseeable future. The healthy snowpack will keep temperatures a little bit below seasonal, which in turn will allow for more snow to fall in coming days, although probably not a lot.

Thursday's forecast high temperature of 32 may be the highest of the next seven days. I don't see a severe Arctic outbreak on the horizon, but we should be in the 20s for highs next week. It's expected to be cloudy during the day Thursday and mostly cloudy overnight, but if skies clear after dark look for temperatures to plunge.

Our next chance of snow arrives Saturday, but the computer forecast models have consistently shown this being a slight event, with maybe up to 2 inches of snow falling here. That has yet to be pinned down.

Area ski resorts are open and busy with holiday skiers, the landscape around Mansfield is finally swathed in a beautiful, seasonally appropriate white. As long as this doesn't continue for the next 10 weeks, most of us can probably enjoy it for a spell.

Here are the weather conditions for Wednesday, Dec. 26, at my location 4 miles north-northwest of Fredericktown, Ohio: